Amnesty International Report 2000 - Mauritania

Head of state: Maaouiya Ould Sid 'Ahmed Taya
Head of government: Cheikh El Avia Ould Mohamed Khouna
Capital: Nouakchott
Population: 2.3 million
Official language: Arabic
Death penalty: retentionist

Press freedom and the activities of human rights groups continued to be severely curtailed, making information about human rights difficult to obtain. The Mauritanian authorities took no steps to investigate massive human rights violations committed during the late 1980s and early 1990s, but the French judicial authorities arrested and investigated a Mauritanian army officer in France accused of torture.

Background

Human rights violations, including political killings, "disappearances" and torture, were widespread during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The victims included suspected government opponents from both black and Arab-Berber communities, civil servants and farmers and cattle herders from the south. Between 1989 and 1991 black African villagers, particularly those from the Senegal River Valley, were targeted by the Mauritanian authorities, dominated by Moors and members of the Beidane ethnic group. More than 500 black Mauritanians held in military custody in 1990 and 1991 were allegedly the victims of extrajudicial execution. A variety of torture techniques were used, including electric shocks, burning with hot coals and the "jaguar", which involved suspending the victim upside down from a metal bar and beating the soles of the feet. Tens of thousands of mostly black Mauritanians were expelled or fled to Senegal and other neighbouring countries. The Mauritanian authorities continued to prevent investigations into past human rights violations.

Human rights organizations continued to operate without recognition by the government, leaving human rights activists open to harassment for "administer[ing] associations which are functioning without authorization" according to Mauritanian law. In 1998, a number of prominent human rights defenders were arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to prison terms under this law.

In October, after Mauritania established full diplomatic ties with Israel, student protests in Nouakchott and in other towns were dispersed by police. Further student protests in November led to the brief arrest of more than a dozen people. A few days later, Mauritanian authorities also banned the opposition Taliaa ( Vanguard) Party, accusing party leaders of stirring up the unrest. Police detained an official of the Iraqi Ba'th Party, releasing him shortly afterwards but retaining his passport.

Prisoners of conscience

Three opposition activists were held without charge or trial for more than one month. They were: Ahmed Ould Daddah, President of Le Front des Partis d'Opposition (FPO), Opposition Parties Front, an umbrella group of opposition parties, and Secretary General of l'Union des Forces Démocratiques-Ere Nouvelle (UFD-EN), Union of Democratic Forces-New Era, one of the four parties that make up the FPO; Mohameden Ould Babah, a member of the UFD-EN executive bureau; and Maître Mohameden Ould Ichiddou, a human rights lawyer and a UFD-EN supporter.

The three men were arrested on 16 December 1998 in Nouakchott, apparently after allegations were made at an FPO meeting that the government was planning to accept Israeli nuclear waste for dumping. This allegation had appeared earlier in the Moroccan press. The following day the Minister of the Interior announced that they were to be charged with "attacking the national interest and the country's reputation by making baseless accusations". However, no charges were brought.

The three men were held under armed guard in the town of Boumdeid, more than 500 kilometres from the capital. They were reportedly confined in a room so small that they could not all lie down at the same time. Between 16 December 1998 and 3 January 1999 they were allowed out to exercise only once. After 17 days in incommunicado detention, they were each allowed a visit by one family member, but continued to be denied access to lawyers and the news media.

There were numerous demonstrations in Nouakchott, demanding the release of the three prisoners, which were violently suppressed by the security forces, who reportedly injured several women. The three men were released on 17 January, the end of Ramadan. In March they were tried and acquitted of charges of inciting intolerance and acts likely to breach public order.

International action against impunity

In July, Ely Ould Dah, a Mauritanian army officer, was arrested in Montpellier, southern France, for alleged crimes of torture. He was approached by the French authorities while attending a course run by the French army at a military school in Montpellier, and was detained and questioned by judicial authorities in Montpellier. In September, a French court ordered his provisional release, but required Ely Ould Dah to stay in the region until the completion of the investigation into torture charges.

The authorities intervened after human rights organizations, including the Fédération internationale des droits de l'homme (FIDH), International Federation of Human Rights, and the Ligue des droits de l'homme (LDH), League of Human Rights, put forward a formal complaint to the police authorities in Montpellier. Ely Ould Dah was accused of having tortured at least two people in a prison near Nouakchott in 1990 and 1991. The two alleged victims were cooperating with the judicial authorities.

AI welcomed the investigation as a positive step in ensuring justice for the victims of gross human rights abuses committed in Mauritania over the years, and urged the French authorities to consider investigating any Mauritanian official against whom there might be allegations of serious human rights violations and who entered their jurisdiction.

A similar case to the one brought against Ely Ould Dah was earlier brought to the attention of the judicial authorities in Paris. However in that case, Ould Hmeid Salem – a Mauritanian army officer receiving specialist medical care in Paris – was informed of the initiative by the French judicial authorities and fled to the Canary Islands. The French tribunals had declared themselves competent to hear Ould Hmeid Salem's case on the basis of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.